Shloka 13
आपद्-राजनीतिः (Āpad-rājanīti) — Policy Options in Multi-Front Crisis
कृश उवाच दुर्लभो5प्यथवा नास्ति यो<र्थी धृतिमवाप्नुयात् स दुर्लभतरस्तात योडर्थिनं नावमन्यते
kṛśa uvāca durllabho 'py athavā nāsti yo 'rthī dhṛtim avāpnuyāt | sa durllabhataras tāta yo 'rthinaṃ nāvamanyate ||
Kṛśa dit : «Rare, en vérité — ou peut-être introuvable — est le nécessiteux qui parvient à la fermeté, si bien que, même dans le besoin, il ne va pas mendier auprès d’autrui. Mais plus rare encore, mon enfant, est l’homme qui ne méprise pas le suppliant, le traite avec respect et exauce sa demande.»
कृश उवाच
Educational Q&A
Two virtues are contrasted: (1) the rare strength of a needy person who maintains dhṛti and refrains from begging despite want, and (2) an even rarer virtue—refusing to scorn a petitioner and instead responding with respectful generosity. The verse elevates compassion and non-contempt toward the vulnerable as exceptionally difficult and therefore highly valued dharma.
In a didactic exchange within Śānti Parva, the speaker Kṛśa addresses a listener (“tāta”) and offers a moral observation about human conduct: true nobility is shown not only in self-restraint under need, but more profoundly in how one treats those who come asking—without humiliation and with readiness to help.